Question about my (soon to be ex) girlfriend's '80 244DL with an M-46.

Aparantly her OD fuse keeps blowing. Here's some things I know about this car.

She's not a very good driver, espically when it comes to her OD. The light on the instrument cluster doesn't work (circuit board is screwed up, see the picture below). This causes her to forget that her OD is on (or so she says), and she leaves the switch on all the time. She is just sure that this is the reason the fuse blows, but I'm 99% sure that wouldn't do it (not with the 4th gear switch).

Also, I'm pretty sure she has a habbit of playing with the OD switch while driving, (IE, flipping it on and off continously while at a stop light,) Might this have something to do with it? (Again, I doubt it).

I'm thinking that the wiring harness in the shifter might be bad.

By the way, here's a picture of the instrument cluster board. As you can see, where the OD light would pop in, there's some sort of break:


Although I'm really not planning on fixing it, how would I go about doing so?

Happy holidays everyone. Hopefully they are better for you then they are for me...

99% caused by a wiring short - probably under the shifter boot where the movement of the shifter chafes the insulation off the wiring to/from the switch. My 1983 factory workshop manuals refer to retrofitting a lengthened wiring harness to earlier models (eg: 1980) to help with this problem.
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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Take a gander at the wiring harness for the OD. Loosen up the crossmember bolts and drop the tranny down every so slightly. This should give you plenty space to check out the condition of the wiring harness for the OD and the Reverse Lights (might as well take a look at those too since your up there). Also pull up the shifter boot and look at the wires coming from the switch that go to the transmission. These wires rub against the tranny tunnel and can short out to ground which maybe the cause to your fuses blowing so much. I just re-built the entire OD & Reverse Light harnesses for the M46 I'm putting in my 264GL in place of the BW55. A fellow brickhead on the BB told me that you can get some bullet type connectors (blue) at WALMART. I must say that the connectors worked fairly well (with very little modification). If you need some pictures or hints on how I re-did the wiring harness e-mail me and I will be more than happy to share that info with you. Have a HAPPY & SAFE HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

Sincerely,
--
Nickvjr

1979 264GL B27F 121K

Features Added:

Central Locking System, 25mm IPD Front Sway Bar, 81+ Dash W/ Oil & Ambient Temp Gauges In C, Oil Pressure, Volts

Next Project:

Add Cruise & BW55 Swap To A M46